Territorio di Siena

At upper left, in a cartouche adorned with friezes and surmounted by the Medici coat of arms, it reads: Orlandus Malavolta Lectoribus. SENA VETUS Originem ab Hetruscis, incrementu(m) a Romanorum Colonia P. Cornelio Rufino, et M. Curio Dentato Coss. Deducta Ioanne Pont. huius nominis primo Episcopalem habuit dignitatem Libertate donata est Carolo Magno insigni victoria parta Montis Aperti clade dicta est CIVITAS VIRGINIS, familiarum splendore et suis gestis nobilitata, suorum’que Civium virtute viribus aucta hoc sibi vendicavit Imperium, Quo demum faelicius beatius’que Optimo Principi suo Cosimo Medices obtemperandi daretur facultas. Nel cartiglio in alto a destra: Has Matematicas Proportiones ORLANDUS MALAVOLTA dimetiebatur, atq decreto publico in Aula Dominorum Sen. Status Conservatoru(m) olim pingi Curavit.

At the bottom, in a large frame, a long dedication by Ubaldino Malavolti (son of the author): Al Clar.mo Sig.re il S.r Baccio Valori. Ubaldino Malavolti S. Da poi che con l’occasione del Privilegio domandato al Ser.mo G. Duca per l’HISTORIA DI SIENA, che al presente ha fatte stampare Salvestro Marchetti, hebbi ventura di conversar lungamente con la S. V. Cl.ma la quale con som(m)a attentione m’ascoltò sempre gratiosamente, non ho lasciato mai di pensare in qual maniera (preso da le sue virtù, e cortesie) potessi mostrarle almen piccol segno della Servitù mia; E non havendo, per le mie deboli forze, cosa a ciò bastante, mi son rivolto alle fatiche del Padre mio; E considerando che a V.S. non fusse per esser discaro il vedere i Siti, e le distanze delle Città, e Castella, e molti altri luoghi dello STATO DI SIENA raccolti in picciola carta, e con Geometriche misure e disposti, si come gli ha sentiti nominare nel corso della Historia, ho giudicato con la presente Corografia sodisfare a questo mio desiderio; Col quale anco a lei desiderando compiacere, le bacio le mani, rimanendo insieme a V.S. Clariss. Et al Generoso Sig.r Filippo suo figliuolo obligatiss. Ser.re Che N. S. le feliciti. Di Siena il di XXV di Maggio. M D XC IX.

Map lacking graphic scale; orientation given with a wind rose in the sea, north is at the top. Left side indicated climates, right side day length at various latitudes. Graduation in the margins of 1' in 1', from 41° 30' to 42° 58' latitude and from 33° 30' to 35° 30' longitude.

“The map was made explicitly to accompany the Historia di Siena, which was being printed in 1599 by Silvestro Marchetti. Interesting is the indication in the cartouche in the upper right-hand corner that Malavolti painted this same map, with mathematical proportions, in the Sala dei Conservatori della Repubblica (1573). The information is confirmed by Del Rosso - in a 1905 publication - in which he reports an extract of the painting. Almagià believes that the information is not reliable, as there is no trace of the original painting and because Malavolti, a historian by profession, would not have been able to make such a survey. In fact, the map is essentially derived from Girolamo Bellarmato's Tuscia, as evidenced by the identical coordinates and the substantial similarities of all elements. However, Rombai definitively ascertained that Malavolti's map was commissioned to be frescoed in the hall of Siena's Palazzo Comunale in 1573 and was destroyed-perhaps in the late 1800s-following some restoration work. Moreover, confirmation of Malavolti's geographic studies prove a possible personal contribution of his to the wall painting, probably inspired by Bellarmato's original work (cf. Cartografia e topografia italiana del XVI secolo, p. 1992).

Orlando Malavolti (Siena 1515-1596), the best known of the Sienese historians, was born in Siena on June 17, 1515, holding various public offices in his homeland from a young age. After the fall of the Republic he became, under the Medici principality, gonfalonier maestro for the Terzo di Camolia (1563) and then captain of the people. In the last years of his life, he devoted himself to writing a history of Siena, the first part of which was published in 1574. The complete work took a long time to come out and was published posthumously, in Venice in 1599 under the title Historia de' fatti e delle guerre de' Sanesi. Attached to the book are a perspective view of the city of Siena and this map of the Senese that also circulated as a separate broadsheet, as Roberto Almagià claims.

Etching and engraving, 1599, signed and dated in plate at lower right in cartouche. Wonderful proof, rich in tone, impressed on contemporary laid paper without watermark, with wide margins, in perfect condition.

Example without any paper folds, which proves the validity of Almagià's theory: the map was not made for Marchetti's Historia di Siena, but to accompany the work. Many examples of the book are in fact without the map, while this one, intact, was probably sold as a separate publication

Bibliografia

S. Bifolco – F. Ronca, Cartografia e topografia italiana del XVI secolo, p. 1992, n. 1004; Almagià (1948): pp. 54-55; Almagià (1929): pp. 23-24, tav. XLVIII; Arrigoni-Bertarelli (1930): n. 2018; Del Rosso (1905), vol I, p. 186. Lago (2002): p. 432, fig. 425; Pellegrini, Il territorio senese nella cartografia antica, (2002): pp. 120-122, tav. VIII; Rombai, Una carta geografica sconosciuta dello Stato Senese (1980): pp. 205-224; Rombai (1993): pp. 102-103; Tooley (1983): n. 524a.